US says Taliban ‘business-like and professional’ in Afghan evacuation

Washington - Official says more than 30 US citizens or permanent residents were invited to board an evacuation flight on Thursday

The United States on Thursday praised the Taliban as business-like and cooperative in facilitating the first evacuation of Americans from Afghanistan since the US military withdrawal.

The departure from Kabul to Doha on a chartered Qatar Airways flight on Thursday marked “a positive first step” with the new regime, National Security Council spokesperson Emily Horne said.

“The Taliban have been cooperative in facilitating the departure of American citizens and lawful permanent residents on charter flights from HKIA,” she said in a statement, referring to Kabul’s Hamid Karzai International Airport.

“They have shown flexibility, and they have been business-like and professional in our dealings with them in this effort.”

More than 30 US citizens or permanent residents were invited to board the flight but US officials are verifying how many ultimately boarded, State Department spokesman Ned Price said.

“Of course, we would like to see more such flights,” Price said.

“We have heard public statements that more, in fact, may be forthcoming.”

The United States had previously said that a little more than 100 Americans were believed to remain in Afghanistan after President Joe Biden closed the 20-year military mission at the end of August.

Price said that most Americans remaining had connections in Afghanistan and had to make “wrenching” decisions on whether to leave — and did not need to decide now.

“This opportunity doesn’t expire if they turn it down one day, if they change their mind the next or even next year,” Price said.

A round-the-clock airlift in the final two weeks of the war shuttled more than 123,000 people, including most of Americans in Afghanistan.